Remember the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas?
Remember the destruction of ancient mausoleums in Mali just a few months ago?
Now it’s the pyramids and the Sphinx.
Photo by Keith Yahl
A jihadist fella called Sheikh Murgan Salem al-Gohary says they’re next.
Gohary, a jihadist with self-professed links to the Taliban, called for the “destruction of the Sphinx and the Giza Pyramids in Egypt,” drawing ties between the Egyptian relics and Buddha statues.
The Islamist, previously twice-sentenced under former President Hosni Mubarak for advocating violence, called on Muslims to remove such “idols.”
“All Muslims are charged with applying the teachings of Islam to remove such idols, as we did in Afghanistan when we destroyed the Buddha statues,” he said on Saturday during a television interview on an Egyptian private channel, widely watched by Egyptian and Arab audiences.
“God ordered Prophet Mohammed to destroy idols,” he added. “When I was with the Taliban we destroyed the statue of Buddha, something the government failed to do.”
His comments came a day after thousands of ultraconservative Islamists gathered in Tahrir Square to call for the strict application of Sharia law in the new constitution.
Theocracy hits one out of the park again.
9 comments
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DBP
November 16, 2012 at 10:48 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I wonder if they realize they probably treat Mecca like an idol.
Or the Quran.
rnilsson
November 16, 2012 at 10:53 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
But will they act accordingly? Hard question, I know.
Beatrice
November 16, 2012 at 10:58 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I read the title as Destroy all the idiots.
Skip White
November 16, 2012 at 11:18 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Gotta love their need to destroy “idols” that predate their religion by centuries or millennia.
Brigadista
November 17, 2012 at 1:01 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
The wahabist version of Pol Pot’s year zero. Some further reading: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/why-dont-more-muslims-speak-out-against-the-wanton-destruction-of-meccas-holy-sites-8229682.html?origin=internalSearch
Yoritomo
November 17, 2012 at 6:16 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I’d almost like to see them try with the Great Pyramid. That thing has a volume of about 2.5 million cubic metres, and it weights about 6 million tons. What are they going to do to it? Fill its chambers with explosives and try to blow it up? If that destroys the pyramid, the debris is likely to lay waste to a significant part of modern Giza too.
davidhart
November 17, 2012 at 6:31 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
“If that destroys the pyramid, the debris is likely to lay waste to a significant part of modern Giza too.”
Given the Islamists’ past record of compassion and concern for human life, I don’t see that stopping them somehow.
Bob-B
November 17, 2012 at 8:41 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Destroying the Sphinx and the Pyramids would really help the tourist trade. How do they think they can make a living if not from tourists? They haven’t got oil. A Saudi Arabia without oil is not going to be a great success story.
rnilsson
December 2, 2012 at 12:43 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Please direct me to the nearest public lavatory, or letter-box.